Cherkasy OCU “hierarch” appears in seized church with stolen bishop’s staff

On May 29, 2025, “Metropolitan” Ioan Yaremenko of the OCU held a “service” in the seized St. Andrew’s Cathedral of the UOC in Cherkasy, attended by Mayor Anatoliy Bondarenko, City Council Secretary Yuriy Trenkyn, and a group of “parishioners,” some of whom were notably without crosses.

The Cherkasy Eparchy of the UOC underscored that the staff Yaremenko was seen holding in the church belongs to Metropolitan Theodosius of Cherkasy. According to the eparchy, Yaremenko stole the staff along with other liturgical items during the forcible seizure of the UOC’s St. Michael’s Cathedral in November 2024.

“He feels no shame. But where are the law enforcement officers who, according to the Constitution and laws of Ukraine, are supposed to protect us from thieves?” the eparchy wrote in a public statement.

The eparchy also published a photo of a UOC service at the St. Michael’s Cathedral prior to its seizure, with the caption: “Everything you see in this photo was recently stolen by the OCU. Their ringleader Yaremenko now openly uses it. Stolen: the cathedral, sticharia, ripidia, primikirion, bishop’s staff, dikirion, trikirion.”

During his sermon, Mayor Bondarenko spread false claims, alleging that at the recent anniversary council of the UOC in Feofania, bishops “once again confirmed loyalty to the Moscow Patriarchate and personally to Patriarch Kirill (Gundyaev).” Yaremenko also handed out certificates of merit to local media representatives “for truthful coverage of the spiritual life of Cherkasy and the entire region.”

Yaremenko further appointed City Council Secretary Trenkyn as head of the parish council of the seized church.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that the Cherkasy Eparchy had accused OCU representatives of stealing a unique panagia.